Lessing's A Sunrise on the Veld: Critical Analysis - Essay Example

Lessing's "A Sunrise on the Veld": Critical Analysis

The concept of "nature" in Lessing's short story "A Sunrise on the Veld" is presented in the form of complex descriptions of nature presented in the glimpse of the young boy's insights whose image is depicted in the text. Wherein descriptions of natural beauty are mediated by the complex structure of primary reality, which in its the queue conveys important information about the narrator and those acting persons who fall into the focus of the narrative. Their perception and assessment surrounding nature give a clear idea of ​​their origin and cultural values. Thus, the concept of "nature" modulates various manifestations of the concept of "man." This was confirmed by an interview, that the Nobel prize-winning author Doris Lessing gave in1964 insisting that her stories raise not only the problem of the "colored population," but also the problem of the impact of the natural world to the world of humanity: "Then I wrote short stories, the events of which took place in the area where I grew up, being isolated in their land where white farmers lived a great distance apart from each other. ... people who could be completely ordinary residents in a society, like English society, the traditions of which they had to match, could become completely wild eccentrics they would not dare to be elsewhere. ... I do not think that my memory is deceiving me, but I think that people of the "color race" would return to the Southern Rhodesia for the inability to find the real living space." The concept of "nature" as complex reflected Lessing exteriorizes the problems of the influence of geographical space on character, attitude, and human behavior influencing the ways that images are settled in her stories. Those between the concepts of "nature" and "man" are always in a complex relationship, mutual conditionality. Getting from the limited space of England to the vast expanses of Africa, sometimes led settlers to abandon internal space as awhole. Vast spaces could provide an opportunity for clues, or be the cause of a sense of insecurity, so they tried to limit your space, thereby isolating yourself from the rest of Africa.

At the same time, children in Lessing's stories are usually more free from prejudices because they are open to the environment, and love adventures, more willing to go to unknown areas. This is evident in the story "Sunrise on the Veld," in which events are perceived by the eyes of a boy of fifteen years who gets up early in the morning and goes into the bush with a gun and a dog to see the sunrise. R.Whittaker, speaking of the child's position in Lessing's stories, makes an important point: "Some of the African stories are written from the faces of a child or teenager showing their openness to the surrounding world we see with their eyes. The beauty of the rising dawn, their sensations we observe, being filled from contact with unfamiliarbut beautiful nature.

The boy in Lessing's story dares to get up early in the morning to see the beauty of the upcoming daylight that inspires him with the light of freedom, the curiosity of the new opportunity that he is ready to catch until everyone else sleeps. Lessing's "A Sunrise on the Veld": critical analysis of which effectively complies with the idea of the decline of colonialism, shows that society should deliberate from racial discrimination.

The boy is ready to leave the comfort of his home to face the beauty of the wild world. Since he only stepped over the side of his home, he felt cold land, and his legs have begun to get sick from it. It was night, and the stars sparkled, the trees stood black and did not move. He saw the first signs of the coming day, the gray edges of the stones, brightening sky only in the place where the sun has risen, the rest there were no signs of life around. Being on guard like a wild beast, he crept past a dangerous window and firmly leaned hands on its side, looking in a stuffy, dark room where his parents slept. The author passes the primary contact of the boy with nature on physical sensations. Despite the winter morning in the yard, the boy knowingly puts himself to the test of cold, which surrounds his external world. The author captures his sensations by describing aching pain in various parts of the child's body, showing that in this situation, he behaves with a feeling of a clear understanding of what is happening and the accuracy of their movements and actions. It is required to note that there is a sharp difference in the above passage between the condition of the boy and his parents. While they sleep, lying in their room covered by the "stuffy darkness," he breathes the cool, fresh air early in the morning, and "stars shine" above his head. Adults do not pay attention to the subtlest change of light, the "grayed edge of the stone," which is magnificent. They are familiar with the boy that dawn was coming. Lessing accentuates attention in a story on dual oppositions of the perception of nature: a living connection of the boy with natures and dull perceptions of adults, located in a built, comfortable house, fenced off from the surrounding nature. Locked in the "stuffy darkness" of the room, they do not participate in the life of nature, do not perceive the miracle of the return of light early in the morning. Unlike them, the boy observes the processes of changing nature in detail and feels joy from this dating with nature. Thus, nature becomes his ally, unlike his parents, over whom he feels superior. This is an impression, but in his behavior, he proudly before leaving for a short moment stops, putting his hand on a windowsill, as if defying parents who were probably against his hikes. He makes an informed choice between nature and its wild locality new home where he is supposed to live.

Thus, the perception of nature in a child is different than in his parents (adults), due to which the concept of "nature" is filled with the new components - pristine beauty, the freshness of the world without any intention. And, the concept of "man" also acquires a new component - the joy of merging and uniting with nature, disposition towards cooperation, not conquest. There are two different approaches to the interpretation of the natural principle that is present in Lessing's short stories. Nature is treated as an originally clean, organic, untouched, an unspoiled environment without various methods of suppression and conventions of "civilized."Society's place and, at the same time, hostile, irrational, and disordered source of formidable and destructive energy that fills a young boy with the wild progressive movement to the welcoming world that is free from prejudices. In this world, there is no need to pretend, so he can uncover the magic support of the timeless activated potential to save his spare time from spending at home within the cozy atmosphere. He is ready to leave all these issues and deliberate the idea of welcoming fire inside him that motivates him to leave unconditionally. Lessing's short story "A Sunrise on the Veld" is the part of the storybook "African Stories" that depicts the diverse relationships and brightly unfolds the connection between people and the surrounding nature. The complexity and diversity of art addressing these relationships have allowed us to identify two key concepts of the early prose by Doris Lessing: the concept of nature and the concept of man. The concept of "nature" is clearly expressed in the dual character: the author, on the one hand, defends a positive view of nature that is untouched land not subjected to barbaric intervention as opposed to a negative analog in a "civilized" society; on the other hand,there stands the opinion on that nature is hostile and destructive, as opposed to society, and in contrast, it is ordered, rational, and constructive. The concept of "man" has double coding: first is the separation on settlers and locals; secondly, each of the categories is divided into two varieties: "settler" / "colonial" and "native" / "savage." Subsequently, the author plans to include further details to make the image of the boy more colorful and engaging.

Lessing's short story "A Sunrise on the Veld" is the literary work that is worth further critical analysis. Considerably, the author, the 2007 Nobel-prize winner, masterfully connects the childish mood with the obsolete comprehension of colonialism. The duality between childhood and adulthood is presented in the opposition between liberalism and conservatism of society.